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Topic: Build a Vacuum System to Dry Boards (Read 28318 times)

Tangent here but the Kevlar koozy thing made me think of it. I'm beginning to think FB is going to bring about the collapse of civilization...it's certainly destroying civility. I'm on some woodworking groups on FB. Just had an argument with a couple of guys about using PVC for compressed air. I was surprised so many were saying its fine to use and telling others its OK. I just don't get people....arguing about something...getting nasty in fact about something I know they are 100% wrong about. It doesn't matter if you're an expert and they're not, that you can provide links from manufacturers saying it's not (dangerous in fact), and videos showing exploding pipes. They just get angry and start name calling. From a sampling of FB posts I'm thinking idiocy far outweighs intelligence in humanity....at least amongst FB users.

This is how I feel when I bring up the topic and benefit of footstraps.

People get offended to the core. People who haven't even used them. It's as if you stepped on their sacred tenet.

Really bizarre, not worth the fight.

There is a small fraction of people who can look at data and say "OK I was wrong and now I agree with you!" As someone noted 'I will never get a tattoo because I do NOT want to be wedded to any idea or symbol for my entire life.'

The biggest benefit of profound ADD--I'm not wedded to anything, because I can't focus on anything, or remember the details of anything long enough to think I "know" it.

This is a trivial but current example: After all the work I did with embedded systems over the years I decided to do a couple of relatively simple Arduino-based projects using wireless mesh networks or a lightweight version of it to manage multiple sensors. I feel like I'm starting off at the baby level, knowing nothing. Took me a day to get the simple dev environment set up. Another day to get the micro versions (Qudino) to load and execute code properly. Another day to blink some RGB Leds. I know nothing. I have to be open to everything, as open as I can be.

I'm reading a book called On The Future by Martin Rees. I'm familiar with most of the data and projections that he's drawing from--they fit in my wheelhouse of interests. But I've never seen them fit together like this. What it tells me, and what I see from spending time in Facebook (less and less-my tolerance is decreasing daily) is that humanity is staggeringly ill-equipped to handle the future, and the unwillingness to consider alternatives and to toss away closely held beliefs is probably what fucks us more than anything else.

Tangent here but the Kevlar koozy thing made me think of it. I'm beginning to think FB is going to bring about the collapse of civilization...it's certainly destroying civility.

Rant over...back to vacuum and drying boards.

I could go on as well about all of this internet anonymity that makes folks think they can talk like they never would if face-to-face with someone, or at least someone who they might have actually have some personal interactions with sometime later on down the road. But yes, it's easy to get caught up in, and I was finding myself losing sleep over something some dimwit I'd never met, nor ever would...said about something that I just might have had a little expertise in, and yet here I was letting it bother me to the point of not being able to let it go hours later.

Anyway, fortunately there's a real easy fix for it come to find out...I just deleted my FB account, and stopped posting on several of the forums that I used to get so worked up over. You'd be surprised at just how entertaining it is to sit in the cheap seats, and watch the nonsense unfold in front of you. It's kind of like going to a NASCAR event...it's an OK event to go to for the basic amazement of what man and machine can do...but dang, what a show when the inevitable entanglement of solid object meets solid object, and the unbelievable excitement, suspense, and unknown outcome as you see it start to unfold right there in front of you. Same way with many of the posts, and posters on some of these vitriolic social media sites...great places to go watch some fun action and excitement, but not for the faint of heart to get behind the wheel of many of them most of the time.

I happen to "prefer" a front strap (haven't tried a rear strap yet), but I also watched Zane in person do some absolutely amazing things on his foil board w/o any straps, well above and beyond what anyone else out on the water was doing at the time in the same conditions...with or w/o straps.

So all I'm saying is that I'm not convinced there's an absolute argument for one over the other yet as fair as I can tell.

The biggest benefit of profound ADD--I'm not wedded to anything,. . . . humanity is staggeringly ill-equipped to handle the future, and the unwillingness to consider alternatives and to toss away closely held beliefs is probably what fucks us more than anything else.

- You mean like Footstraps!!!! Ahhhhhhh

My comments were meant to be in 2 parts:

1) A rant in favor of Footstraps---------------------------------------2) A bash on those that can't 'pivot' when faced with new data information

Got the Vacuum pump and oil pressure gauge. Hooked the rig up to the Gortex Vent plug and let it run overnight ~ 24 hours.

There was some moisture showing up in the tubing which was encouraging but no droplets. Total weight loss ~ 0.05 lbs . . as Uconn Cornelius would say "Nothing." Pressure was a steady -25 inHG.

I went to the hardware store and bought some more supplies for the water 'condensor'.

Before I hooked it up I switched back to connecting 2 irrigation tubes to the holes I drilled in the front of the board. Within 5 minutes water was running into the tubing prompting me to STOP the whole operation and build my water trap.

At this point the water trap is ONLY pressure fitted. NOT fully secured. I figured the vacuum would hold it all together. Water is ONCE again flowing from the board. Starting point now is ~ 20.90 lbs. Targeting 18.4 lbs.

Note: Pressure has SLIPPED to 22 inHG. But there does seem to be a hearty flow which I think is critical to sucking the water out.

Here is an interesting observation: There is Condensation on the outside of the irrigation TUBING running from the Hole drilled in the nose of the board.

The tubing is also COLD to the touch. This is great news because condensation is the OPPOSITE of evaporation.

On the inside the OPPOSITE procedure should be happening. The low pressure causing Evaporation.

The little aquarium pumps were sufficient to drain the physical water but I think this pump is going to the next level . . . taking it to 11.

Continuously running pump consumes 200 Watts of power. Not the end of the world but worth mentioning for those energy conscious. Alternately I have to weigh the cost and time of building a sensor and switches vs. just running the pump for a day / week / month.

You know you could pull the transmission and motor out of an old washing machine and make a spinner--that will get your board dry--or toss it into the wall at Mach 2 (see the "WHAT, Mavericks contest canceled" thread for relevant discussion).

It's kind of like going to a NASCAR event...it's an OK event to go to for the basic amazement of what man and machine can do...but dang, what a show when the inevitable entanglement of solid object meets solid object, and the unbelievable excitement, suspense, and unknown outcome as you see it start to unfold right there in front of you. Same way with many of the posts, and posters on some of these vitriolic social media sites...great places to go watch some fun action and excitement, but not for the faint of heart to get behind the wheel of many of them most of the time.

Progress continues but it has become slower and more expensive per lbs.

However - There has been great learning.

1) Extracting water once the physical water sloshing around becomes a heat transfer exercise.

2) Greater vacuum pressure combined with heat will solve the problem but this takes energy and a strong board

3) The water is DEFINITELY localized near the dings

It was no coincidence that my tubes were cold to the touch as water was draining out. That was the last vestiges of primarily liquid water concentrated around the dings. The next morning the tubes were WARM and the water flow had slowed WAY, WAY down.

One week ago I got the Weight down to 20.25 lbs. Time to take things on the road.